Key ISI Figure Amir Hamza Killed by Unknown Gunmen in Pakistan’s Punjab

New Delhi, 18th June 2024: Amir Hamza, a retired Pakistan army Brigadier and a key figure in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was killed by unknown gunmen in Punjab, Pakistan.

Hamza was known to counter-terrorism agencies for his involvement in ISI-engineered operations against India. He was considered one of the masterminds behind the 2018 attack on the Sunjwan Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in the deaths of six soldiers.

This marks the second elimination of a Pakistani linked to that attack. In November, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Khwaja Shahid, suspected to be another key plotter, was found beheaded near the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Hamza’s wife and daughter, who were with him in the car and sustained injuries, informed the police that the attackers did not steal any belongings. They emphasized that Hamza did not have any known personal enemies. Pakistani police have labeled it a targeted killing.

The attack occurred in Jhelum district, Punjab. Four unidentified men on motorcycles ambushed Hamza’s car as it approached the Lilla interchange in Jhelum. According to Pakistani media, the gunmen cornered the car from both sides and opened fire indiscriminately, ensuring Hamza’s death before fleeing the scene.

The Express Tribune reported that Hamza’s brother, Ayub, witnessed the attack while following Hamza’s car on a motorcycle. Although Ayub is the complainant, he is also under police scrutiny. Rescue 1122 services, which responded to the incident, confirmed Hamza’s death at the scene and the injuries sustained by his wife and daughter. “We are investigating it as a ‘blind murder case’. We have registered a case and the probe into the targeted attack is underway,” Pakistani police told local media.

Towards the end of his career, Hamza held key supervisory positions, with his last role being the Director General of the Emergency Services Academy (1122).

This killing is the latest in a series of targeted eliminations of Pakistanis associated with ISI-engineered terror attacks in India. In April, Amir Sarfaraz, a heavily protected ISI operative, was killed by unidentified gunmen in Lahore. In December, Adnan Ahmed, also known as Abu Hanzala, a top-ranking LeT commander responsible for numerous attacks on security convoys in the Valley, was gunned down in Karachi. In October, Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorist Shahid Latif, the chief handler of the fidayeen squad that attacked the Pathankot airbase in 2016, was killed by unidentified assailants in a mosque in Sialkot.